Marijuana

[LightSon]

Originally posted by LivingDeadDoll

So i guess that the bible really doesn't have a lot to say on the subject except that God gave us plants for our use. Strange how such a major topic of our time is not even really a discussed point in the bible. Maybe that's because there wasn't a reason to touch on the subject since it isn't a big deal like people today make it out to be. I wonder if i will live to see the legalization of it?

Well....
I think a case could be made by extrapolating from the verses on drunkeness. Christians should not be drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit. Or rather, just as alcohol controls the drunk, the Christian should be controlled by the Spirit.

Teatotalers would argue that means "no beer".

More liberal thinkers would say then that after a couple of beers, one is not drunk and that is okay.

If we can extend the verse to mean being under the influence of a substance, then one should limit themselves to 2 bong hits.

 

[Granite]

"Let's just say I'm a bit more concerned with content and Christian bashing than you are. I like the Cohen Brother's movies especially 'Fargo.'"

:thumb:

Good stuff!

"Actually I escaped the military after 23 years with just enough of my soul left intact for Christian Reconstruction."

Funny, I was in TATTERS after leaving Reconstructionism. Ah well. Different strokes...

"I know it's hard to believe but I really enjoy contending for the faith against all odds."

That's part of CR's appeal: it's us versus everybody else. Trust me, I've been there.

 

[BillyBob]

Originally posted by LightSon

Consider this, as long as MJ is illegal, it will be found on the black market along with other illegal drugs. For example, suppose there is a young man looking to purchase illegal MJ from a source. Over time, he will move from source to source. How long before he runs into someone who also has hard-drug-X? If he has purposed in his heart and mind that he isn't going there, then for him it won't be the gateway drug, but in a moment of weakness, he may opt to take a walk on the wild side. Many addicts start this way.

By making MJ legal, then there would be no need for one to venture into the black market arena, thereby removing one more opportunity to experiment with harder drugs.

I don't buy it. Making pot legal will not necessarilly eliminate the black market for the drug. People can grow the stuff in their back yard, there will be plenty of room for black market pot and profit. The 'Black Market' is filled with items that can also be legally purchased.

When marijuana is called a 'gateway' drug, it isn't because the dealer may also sell some other intoxcant, it's because the user has decided that he likes getting high and will be even more willing to experiment with other drugs. Legalizing pot won't diminish this, it will augment it!

 

[Granite]

Originally posted by BillyBob

I don't buy it. Making pot legal will not necessarilly eliminate the black market for the drug. People can grow the stuff in their back yard, there will be plenty of room for black market pot and profit. The 'Black Market' is filled with items that can also be legally purchased.

When marijuana is called a 'gateway' drug, it isn't because the dealer may also sell some other intoxcant, it's because the user has decided that he likes getting high and will be even more willing to experiment with other drugs. Legalizing pot won't diminish this, it will augment it!

Well, couple things...

First, while a world with legal weed may still see home-grown, this is hardly a "black" market. I guess it'd be more akin to growing your own cigarette tobacco, handrolling, and selling them thattaway. I think people will still opt for the easier option: go to a store/hash bar and just buy the stuff. Either way homegrown "black" market weed doesn't hold a candle up to the current market, which is black as the ace of spades.

I think people see weed as a gateway drug because there's this notion that once you do weed, everyone who smokes it will automatically move on to harder and harder drugs. That may happen SOME of the time, but again--are we talking about weed itself or just a certain kind of addictive personality that'll move up the drug totem pole one way or another?

Personally I think cigarettes are the ultimate "gateway" drug, in that the lure of smoking, the thrill of sneaking one, and bucking the system in general hardwire teens with the rush of doing SOMETHING illicit. From there all else follows.

 

[Art Deco]

Originally posted by BillyBob

I don't buy it. Making pot legal will not necessarilly eliminate the black market for the drug. People can grow the stuff in their back yard, there will be plenty of room for black market pot and profit. The 'Black Market' is filled with items that can also be legally purchased.

When marijuana is called a 'gateway' drug, it isn't because the dealer may also sell some other intoxcant, it's because the user has decided that he likes getting high and will be even more willing to experiment with other drugs. Legalizing pot won't diminish this, it will augment it!

Right on BillyBob... :thumb:

 

[BillyBob]

Originally posted by granite1010

Well, couple things...

First, while a world with legal weed may still see home-grown, this is hardly a "black" market. I guess it'd be more akin to growing your own cigarette tobacco, handrolling, and selling them thattaway. I think people will still opt for the easier option: go to a store/hash bar and just buy the stuff. Either way homegrown "black" market weed doesn't hold a candle up to the current market, which is black as the ace of spades.

A black Market will exist if there is a profit to be made, regardless of the product. It has yet to be determined how much legal pot will cost, how much you can buy, where you can buy it, where you can smoke it and what quality/potency it will be. Any one of these particulars may spawn a black market.

I think people see weed as a gateway drug because there's this notion that once you do weed, everyone who smokes it will automatically move on to harder and harder drugs. That may happen SOME of the time, but again--are we talking about weed itself or just a certain kind of addictive personality that'll move up the drug totem pole one way or another?

I think weed is called a gateway drug simply because most drug users start with a puff of weed before they ever try harder drugs. How many heroin users out there bypassed weed and went straight to heroin? [I don't have the answer and don't expect you to, either, but I suspect my point is dead on right] Now, that is not to say that if pot were eliminated that people wouldn't try other drugs, but it's quite conceivable that the step from being sober to directly becoming a heroin addict will be too big of a leap for most people to take.

Personally I think cigarettes are the ultimate "gateway" drug, in that the lure of smoking, the thrill of sneaking one, and bucking the system in general hardwire teens with the rush of doing SOMETHING illicit. From there all else follows.

Is there a black market for cigarettes?

Do you think many people go directly from smoking cigarettes to smoking crack?

 

[Granite]

I understand your point--most people don't just dive in to heroin, for example. Just the same, not everyone who smokes weed winds up shooting H. Different hobbies, as it were.

I'd be curious to know if, say, the Dutch struggle with a black market vis a vis weed.

As far as cigarettes go, there is a limited black market...mobsters still smuggle them from North Carolina and what have you. ATF still has to deal with people trying to sell them from the back of a truck. Limited, but still there.

 

[Gerald]

Originally posted by Art Deco
Bring it Buster... :thumb:

Post your real name and your real address, as well as a photo taken within the last week in the public forum, and I and my crew will pay you a visit.

BTW, a sniper rifle won't penetrate 3-inch armor plate...

 

[BillyBob]

You need a crew?

 

[Gerald]

Originally posted by BillyBob
You need a crew?

Well of course, silly!

The purpose of minions is to take the fall if the operation fooes... :chuckle:

 

[LightSon]

Originally posted by Turbo

Or, does anyone smoke it without the intention of getting high?

I suppose so, I'm thinking of a certain individual who intended to smoke it without inhaling.

 

[HerodionRomulus]

Originally posted by Gerald

Well of course, silly!

The purpose of minions is to take the fall if the operation fooes... :chuckle:

Exactly. That's why George II has Condi and Rummy and the other yes-men.
The buck NEVER stops with him. Just ask Tenet.

 

[BillyBob]

Originally posted by HersmokionBongulus

Exactly. That's why George II has Condi and Rummy and the other yes-men.
The buck NEVER stops with him. Just ask Tenet.

I think we all know who is smoking the weed.....

 

[LivingDeadDoll]

Originally posted by Poly

I don't. I think it's crap. And I think you're full of crap if you think that people don't see through the supposed "justification" of your drug use. I think you hang yourself with your own words. I feel sorry for your kids. I think you're lying to yourself and they are the ones who are going to have to pay.

If you think it's crap, then why bother to join in this discussion? and i'm not trying to justify anything, if i want to smoke pot for medical reasons or for recreational purposes then thats what i'm going to do and i'm not going to keep it some big secret, i only elaborated like i did because you wanted answers to questions, i gave them to you and now you are upset because you don't really have any tangible evidence to show me that there is anything wrong with what i am doing. And about feeling sorry for my kids! i think you are rude and i don't recall asking what you thought about my children and i will thank you to leave them out of anything you have to say in further discussion because you do not know me nor do you know how i live my life nor do you know my children!

 

[BillyBob]

Hey LDD, do you smoke Pot? Regularly?

 

[LivingDeadDoll]

define regularly...

 

[BillyBob]

I'll let you do that. How often do you smoke?

 

[LivingDeadDoll]

Well, i don't have a regular schedule of doing so, but usually four to five nights out of the week though. Sometimes more, sometimes a lot less. It just depends.

 

[BillyBob]

Do you consider yourself an addict?

 

[LivingDeadDoll]

:crackup: no